CHAPTER 55
"How are you feeling?"
Anakin sat down beside his son before responding. "I'm alright," he replied. "Just anxious to get out of here."
Luke nodded. "Yeah, I know." He looked at his father, knowing that something else was eating away at him. "What else is on your mind?" he asked.
Anakin looked at him. "What makes you think there is?" he asked.
Luke smiled. "You forget, Father; I can read you just as easily as you can read me."
Anakin nodded, a smile spreading across his face. "How could I forget?" He sighed, looking down at his boots. "I suppose I'm just feeling discouraged about your sister. She truly hates me, Luke. I'm beginning to think that she always will."
"I don't believe any of that," Luke replied. "She just needs time."
Anakin shook his head. "She's had time, Luke," he retorted. "It's been many weeks now since she learned the truth, and in that time I've done everything I can to show her how I feel about her. I don't know what is left for me to do, son."
In truth Luke felt the same way, but he didn't want to admit it to his father.
"You don't either, do you?" Anakin remarked, looking at his son.
Luke looked at his father, and was about to respond when they were interrupted.
"Oh, there you are."
Anakin turned away from his son to see the medical officer standing before them.
"Were you looking for me?" Anakin asked.
"Yes," she replied. "Your wife tells me that you are leaving us soon, and I wanted to give you a final check before you do."
Anakin groaned inwardly, tired of being examined. It seemed to him that he'd received more medical attention in the past several weeks than in his previous forty four years of life.
"I'm fine, I assure you," he told her at last.
"I'm sure you are," the physician replied. "But let's just double check to be sure."
"Very well," Anakin sighed, as Luke smiled at his father.
Enjoying this, Luke?
You bet.
Nice.
Luke chuckled as he watched his father walk along with the physician. He was concerned about Anakin, for he knew how frustrated his father was. The situation with Leia had him depressed, and Luke was at a loss to know what to do or say anymore. He had spent many hours speaking with his twin, trying to convince her that their father had changed, that he was no longer the villainous monster who had terrorized the galaxy for two decades. Although Leia admitted that Anakin had chanced, she still could not accept him. The past was a very painful subject for her because of him, and it seemed as though she would never get over it. Luke worried that his sister's unyielding attitude would prevent their family from ever being whole, and Anakin from ever being healed.
"Now just sit right up here," the medic ordered Anakin after he had removed his tunic. "Let's have a look at that wound."
Anakin looked at Padmé who stood at his side, smiling at his efforts to hide his impatience.
"This was your doing, wasn't it?" he asked her.
Padmé lifted her eyebrows. "Mine?" she echoed. "What makes you think I had anything to do with it?"
"Because I know you," he muttered. She just shook her head. Her eyes traveled to the other side of the room to where a medical droid was performing a last check on Leia.
"She hates me, Padmé," he said softly.
Padmé frowned, looking at him again.
"No matter what I do, she will always hate me."
Padmé shook her head. "She doesn't hate you, Ani," she replied. "She is just having difficulty accepting that you are her father."
Anakin snorted. "That's an understatement," he muttered. "I don't know what else I can do, Padmé. What can I do to change her heart?"
Padmé sighed, her heart aching for him, from the look in his eyes. She looked over to Leia, and could see that her daughter was listening to what Anakin was saying. Her face remained impassive, however, as she did not register any reaction to what he'd said.
"I don't know what to tell you, Ani," Padmé replied at last. "I suppose she is only one to answer that question."
"Do you remember how certain I was that you were carrying a girl, Padmé?" Anakin said, a slight smile turning up the corners of his mouth.
Padmé nodded. "I remember," she replied with a smile.
"I remember when we were first married seeing this little girl in the youngest of the youngling classes," he recalled, his features softening at the memory. "She was tiny, and had big brown eyes. I remember wishing for a little girl like her, and thinking that if we ever had a daughter that she'd look like that. I don't know what happened to that girl; I never saw her again."
Padmé took his hand and squeezed it, not needing Jedi senses to see how much he was hurting. She looked back at Leia. Do you know how much you are hurting him? Does it make your own pain less by doing so? She thought to herself, wishing she had Anakin's ability to project thoughts into the minds of others.
Leia looked away from her mother, unnerved by the intensity of her stare; by the poignant words she'd overheard her father utter. He wanted a little girl…he knew that Mother was carrying me, a girl, his little girl, the little girl he'd wanted since they'd married..
"Well, you seem to be in fine shape," the medic announced.
Leia looked up at him. "What did you say?" she asked.
"I said you're fine," he repeated.
"Oh, thanks," she replied, hopping down off the examination table. She walked over to where her father and mother were.
"Are we all set to go?" Leia asked.
Anakin and Padmé looked up at her, startled by her sudden appearance.
"Your father is in perfect health," the medic announced. "Although he could use more rest," he added.
Anakin glanced back at the physician. "Does that mean I can leave, or not?"
"You're free to go," she replied with a smile. "Somehow I doubt that we could convince you to stay even if we tried."
Padmé smiled. "You're right about that," she replied.
Anakin didn't need to be told twice, and stood up from the table, taking the tunic his wife handed to him.
"Luke is waiting for us," Anakin said, looking at Padmé. "Piett ought to be here soon."
"Thank you for everything," Padmé said, turning to the physicians.
"You're most welcome, Arcadia," she replied, using the false name that Padmé had used while on the planet. "I wish you a safe journey."
"Thank you," Anakin replied. "For everything."
